Index card carrier



May, 1939- F. L.. G. sTRAu-BEL. 2,157,358

INDEX GARD CARRIER Original Filed Sept. l, 1936 gmc/who@ FredericL. Gl'raubel,

Patented May 9, 1939 UNITED STATES INDEX CARD CARRIER Frederick L. G. Straubel, Green Bay, Wis., as-

signor of one-eighth to 0. C. Straubel, Green Bay, Wis., and two-eighths to C. W. Straubel,

Youngstown, Ohio Original application September 1, 1936, Serial No.

98,988. Divided and 1937, Serial No. 151,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to card index carriers, and has particular reference to a card index carrier as illustrated and described in my prior application, Serial No. 98,988, filed September 1, 1936, of which the present application is a division, said prior application having matured into Patent No. 2,093,941, dated September 21, 1937.

One object of the invention is to provide sim- 5 ple, resilient clip or clamp means to enable the card carrier to be quickly, easily and securely mounted on a support, such as a card panel, and to be equally as quickly and easily detached from its support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a `card carrier with practical means for holding an indicia containing card or the like.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become more fully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the

same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and defined 5 in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different views:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a card carrier lo constructed in accordance with one practical embodiment of the invention, the same being shown operatively mounted on a card panel.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2--2 of Fig. l.

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

,5 Referring to the drawing in detail, A designates a card panel and B designates, generally,

the present card carrier.

The card panel A is formed from suitable stiff sheet material such as fibre, cardboard, metal or lo the like and is designed to be mounted within a filing cabinet drawer, or in a book, or upon a stand or the like to serve as a support for one or more oi' the card carriers B. The card carrier B also is formed from suitable sheet material, g5 preferably metal, and is designed to be suspended from the panel A, or from any other suitable support, or, if desired, to be used to the exclusion of a support, to carry a series of index cards C in a manner which is well known.

When a card carrier such as the card carrier B is used with a support such as the support A, it often is necessary, or desirable, for one reason or another, to remove the carrier from said support and subsequently to replace the same on 55 said support. Moreover, when the card carrier this application June 30, 288

(Cl. 12B-16.7)

C is mounted on a support such as the panel A, it is desirable that the carrier be held effectively against sidewise or upward or downward movement relative to said support, and yet shall be capable of quick and easy removal therefrom and equally quick and easy replacement thereon.

The card carrier B is of narrow, elongated form having its side marginal portions offset forwardly from its medial portion II) to provide a pair of flanges II, II behind which are engageable tongues I2 struck from the index cards C to attach said cards to the carrier in a well known manner, and in order to provide for quick and easy attachment and detachment of said card carrier to and from the panel A, said card carrier is provided atits upper end with a hook, designated as I3, for cooperation with the upper edge portion of said panel A, and said hook is provided with a spring clip, designated as I4, for clamping cooperation with the back of said panel A.

The hook I3 is formed by bending the upper end portion of the card carrier B first' rearrwardly, as indicated at I5, and then downwardly, as indicated at I6, and by engaging said hook over the top edge portion of the panel A the card carrier B obviously will be suspended from said panel for ready removal therefrom simply by elevating the card carrier relative to the panel. In this connection, the hook I3 may be resilient and may be formedto frictionally grasp the top marginal portion of the panel A to hold the card carrier against sidewise and upward movement relative to said panel, but as this might render removal of the card carrier from the panel A difficult, the hook. I3 preferably is formed to be freely engageable with and disengageable from the top marginal portion of the panel A and the spring clip I4 is provided to hold the card carrier against sidewise or upward movement relative to the panel when said card carrier is operatively mounted on said panel.

The downwardly extending portion I6 of the hook I3 is bifurcated and rolled upon itself to provide a pair of spaced, alined pintle receiving eyes I1, and the clip I4, which is formed from sheet metal, is suitably provided at its bottom with a tongue I8 and, at a short distance above its bottom, with a pair of pintle receiving eyes I9 which are alined with the eyes Il. A pintle 20 extends through the alined eyes I'I and I9 and serves to hingedly connect the clip I4 with the downwardly extending portion IB of the hook I3,

and a pair of coil springs 2l engaged on the pintle 20 and cooperating at their ends With the clip and the portion I6 of the hook, respectively, tend constantly to rotate the clip in a direction to swing the tongue I8 thereof forwardly toward the main body portion of the card carrier B. It is apparent, therefore, that by swinging the upper portion of the clip I4 forwardly the tongue I8 will be swung rearwardly to permit free engagement and disengagement of the hook I3 with and from the top edge portion of the panel A, and that, when the hook is engaged with the top edge portion of the panel and the clip I4 is released, the springs 2| function to urge the tongue I8 against the back of the panel A and the card carrier proper against the front of said panel, with the result that the card carrier, considered as an entirety, is effectively clamped on the panel A against the possibility of accidental sidewise or upward displacement relative thereto.

The clip I4 extends above the top of the card carrier B and its upper portion is bent first forwardly and then downwardly upon itself, or otherwise is suitably formed to provide a holder 22 for a card or label 23 bearing data or indicia of any desired character. If the card or label holder 22 is formed as shown and described, the front wall of the same is provided with a window 24 through which the card or label 23 is visible, it being understood, of course, that the card or label is insertable and removable endwise into and from the holder 22 from the side of the latter.

Carried by the card carrier B is a stop 25 of any suitable type to limit downward movement of cards along said card carrier.

A feature of special advantage of the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3 is that a person may, by using only one hand, quickly and easily mount the card carrier on the panel and remove it; therefrom, since finger pressure against the front of the carrier and against the back of the upper portion of the clip I4 effects a released status of the clip.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A carrier for index cards comprising an elongated strip of sheet material having index card retaining side edge formations with which index cards are slidably engageable, a rearward extension from the upper end of said card carrier strip to overlie the upper edge portion of a panel element to support the card carrier strip in front of said panel element and against downward movement relative thereto, a downward extension from said rearward extension to engage the back of the panel element, thereby to hold the card carrier strip against forward movement relative to the panel element, a member pivoted on said downward extension and having a portion of said member counter to the direction in which j it is urged by said spring means.

2. A carrier for index cards comprising an elongated strip of sheet material having index card retaining side edge formations with which index cards are slidably engageable, a hook formation at the top of said card carrier strip to overlie the upper edge of a panel and to extend downwardly over the rear face of the panel to suspend the card carrier strip from the panel and to hold the card carrier strip against forward movement relative to the panel, a member pivoted on said hook formation and having a portion below the pivot thereof for engagement with the panel, and spring means tending constantly to rotate said member to urge the lower portion thereof against the back of the panel element, thereby to draw the card carrier strip against the front of the panel element, the portion of said member above the pivot thereof extending above the rearward extension of said card carrier strip for convenient finger engagement to effect rotation of said member counter to the direction in which it is urged by said spring means.

3. A carrier for index cards comprising an elongated strip of sheet material having index card retaining side edge formations with which index cards are slidably engageable, a hook formation at the top of said card carrier strip for engagement with the upper edge portion of a panel element to suspend said strip from the panel element, a clip pivoted to said hook formation and having a portion below its pivot for engagement with the rear face of the panel element to retain said strip on the panel element, and spring means tending constantly to rotate said clip in a direction to cause its lower portion to clampingly engage the rear face of the panel element.

4. A carrier for index cards comprising an elongated strip of sheet material having index card retaining side edge formations with which index cards are slidably engageable, a hook formation at the top of said strip for engagement with the top portion of a panel element to suspend said strip from the panel element, a clip pivoted to said hook formation and having a portion for engagement with the panel element to retain said strip on the panel element, spring means tending constantly to rotate said clip in a direction to cause said panel engageable portion thereof to engage the panel, and a formation on said clip for finger engagement to effect releasing rotation thereof in the opposite direction.

FREDERICK L. G. STRAUBEL. 

